Hardcover

Description

In the probing interviews in this vibrant new book, eminent scholars struggle with some of the most crucial issues facing contemporary intellectuals. Poststructuralist philosopher Judith Butler discusses the “pain” of rigorous intellectual work, saying that it is “necessarily extremely hard labor,” as she examines the intersection of discourse and political action. Award-winning filmmaker, philosopher, and social theorist David Theo Goldberg reviews his life’s work, especially on issues of racism. Literary critic and feminist philosopher Avital Ronell sets out to disrupt the standard logic of signification, to force readers into fresh ways of perceiving a subject at hand. Postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha discusses how critical literacy is intimately connected to the question of democratic representation, and he elaborates on how cultural difference can lead to a politics of discrimination. And neo-Marxist cultural critic Slavoj Žižek takes readers on an exhilarating journey through a wide range of critical subjects.

Author Info

Gary A. Olson is a noted scholar of rhetoric and cultural studies and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Idaho State University. He is author or editor (often in collaboration with others) of over twenty books and nearly a hundred scholarly articles and chapters. He writes a monthly column on academic administration for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Lynn Worsham is Professor of English at Illinois State University, where she also serves as editor of the Journal of Advanced Composition. She has published numerous books, including Critical Intellectuals on Writing, edited with Gary A. Olson (SUNY Press 2003).

Henry A. Giroux currently holds the Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies Department. He has published numerous books and articles and his most recent books include America’s Educational Deficit and the War on Youth (2013) and Neoliberalism’s War on Higher Education (2014).